James R. Fleming, professor of science, technology, and society at the STS program at Colby College, Maine USA, will give a seminar at the Division of History of Science and Technology, KTH, on Thursday September 2, at 15.15. The seminar will be held in room D448, Lindstedtsvägen 5, floor 4.

The title of professor Flemings talk is ”Fixing the Sky: Historical perspectives on weather and climate control”. This presentation examines the tragicomic history of rainmakers, weather warriors, and climate engineers, arguing that ”history matters” in pressing issues of current public policy concern and technical decision-making.

James Rodger Fleming is a historian of science and technology and professor of science, technology, and society at Colby College. His most recent books include Fixing the Sky: The checkered history of weather and climate control (Columbia University Press 2010) and two edited volumes: Globalizing Polar Science (Palgrave 2010) and Osiris 26 (2011) on Klima. Professor Fleming recently held the Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History at the Smithsonian Institution, the Roger Revelle Fellowship in Global Stewardship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a public policy scholarship at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. In the spring of 2011 he is convening the Gordon Cain research conference on the history of atmospheric chemistry at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia.
Book dust jacket blurbs are here..